The Muggle Who Graduated Hogwarts
by ThisIsMyTownAndIDefendMyShips
Summary: Rumplestiltskin is one of the most powerful wizards at Hogwarts. On his last year of school, he meets a girl. A pretty brown haired girl sitting all alone reading at the Hufflepuff table. Turns out that she has a lot of secrets. One of them being that she's been living in a closet for the past four years. Join him and the rest of his group as they go for a wild ride. Rumbelle AU
1. Chapter 1

**Hello and Welcome to Hogwarts School of Magic. A school for those who are magically gifted and want to become a great wizard or witch. A long time ago, however, we used to have a muggle with us here, and this is her story.**

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Rumplestiltskin Gold was back for his final year of wizardry school. After seven long and boring years, he was ready to be done with Hogwarts. In the Slytherin, you didn't have friends. You just have shaky alliances. Especially when your nom de guerre is, The Dark One. Rumplestiltskin headed down to the old wooden dining hall for the sorting ceremony for the new first-year children. Just as he remembered. The long tables, all crowded with hopeful wizards and witches hoping to even come close to legends of others before them.

He was glad it would be the last time he would have to see it. Regina, Jafar, Hook, Hades, Peter Pan, Zelena, Cruella, Gaston, Ursula, Ingrid, Arthur, and Maleficent were all sitting together with a seat open in between Regina and Arthur for him. He sat down in the seat but their conversation was unwaverd by his arrival. It was nice though, he could scout out the new competition without being bothered by idle chatter. He looked around at the other tables.

Gryffindor was as noisy as ever. Ravenclaw was grouping themselves together to make plans for the year. What caught his eye, however, was this seventh-year girl sitting at the farthest chair away from everyone at her Hufflepuff table. She had soft wavy brown locks that framed her porcelain skin. She was biting slightly on her bottom lip as she focused on what she was doing. She was wearing a nice blue dress that matched her eyes which happened to be looking into her book. Potions for Advanced Applications. That class ended years ago when not enough students were nominated for the class. He'd been nominated every year. He was just surprised that she had that book. He was also surprised that a girl as pretty as she was sitting as far away as she could. Hufflepuffs were shy but they often grouped with each other.

"Does anyone know who that lone girl at the Hufflepuff table is?" Rumplestiltskin asked the others.

They all took a quick peek at her to see who he was talking about. Regina spoke first, "That's Belle French. I have her next semester for broom riding. You have her in your potions class. I'm pretty sure we all have her in some class or another."

"How come I don't remember her from previous years?" he asked.

"I'm afraid the lass is quite shy,'' Hook started. "She tends to stay out of other people's ways. However, the young lady has always lent me something when I needed it."

"She's a very big bookworm," Gaston said. "Her nose is always stuck in a book."

"Smart though," Regina said. "Top of the class. Nervous like heck when she's called on to do anything other than potions in front of the class."

"Professor Snape's favorite,'' Hook continued. "He sticks up for her when the other teachers get... suspicious. Rumor has it, Belle's dad has a huge amount of magic and so does her mom but she supposedly didn't inherit any magic. Making her a muggle. Some say, she uses something to make it look like she has magic but no one has the faintest idea what it could be.''

"But why is she sitting so far away from the others?" Rumplestiltskin asked. "I thought Hufflepuff was all about being pals with each other. Yet not even one person is sitting by her."

"Like Hook said," Zelena began. "She stays out of everyone's way. I heard she tried being involved once and she messed up so bad that she didn't go back to her own room for the rest of the semester."

Rumplestiltskin looked back at Belle one more time. She had a half smile on her face as she turned the page.

"Why are you so interested in her now?'' Regina asked. "You've had seven years to ask about her. Why now?"

"I guess I never noticed her before," he answered.

Before anyone else could ask any questions Professor Dumbledore came out and went up to the podium. "Greetings everyone!''

Rumplestiltskin didn't really pay attention to the rest of the ceremony. All his attention was fixated on semi-staring at Belle. There had to be a reason she kept to herself. He wanted to know why. Maybe he could take those hugging Huffles down a couple of pegs. If it meant they lost a couple of points along the way, well, he wasn't against that either.

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	2. Chapter 2

Rumplestiltskin had finally gotten the spell he needed from the library and was ready to get to bed. It was after curfew but since when he care? Everyone was already asleep or pretending to be asleep in their respective areas so as long as he was quiet and the paintings kept their mouths shut he'd be fine. He started walking up the stairs but stopped when he heard voices. He couldn't remember the paintings being this chatty before. There was one voice, however, that caught his attention. An accent he wouldn't soon forget. Australian. He peeked around the corner to see who had one of the prettiest voices he'd ever heard. He was surprised to find Belle sitting on one of the unmoving parts of the stairs talking to the paintings.

"So Ms. Belle, do you have any plans for the future?"

"Not entirely," she answered. "First I have to graduate. Everyone's getting more suspicious of me by the day. I'm going to have to get some help soon or I'm finished."

Rumplestiltskin looked at her carefully. She looked genuinely worried as her head landed in her hands. something was digging slightly into his heart. He wasn't sure what or why but he didn't like seeing her this way. She was shivering. Rumplestiltskin had long ago made his cloak temperature controlled but she was out here in a thin pajama t-shirt and pants and everyone knew there was no heater.

"Oh Ms. Belle, You forgot to bring a blanket again didn't you?" the painting, Helena the Grey, asked.

"You... You know that it wouldn't do... do me much good any... anyway," she reminded him.

"Ms. Belle, you shouldn't be forced to stay in that gosh awful closet you make yourself stay in," he said.

Rumplestiltskin was shocked to hear that. The rumor was that she was there for the remaining of the semester, not… how long had it been? Zelena didn't say how long ago this happened. Though the painting said that she forced herself to stay in that closet. That would just reflect poorly on her, not Hufflepuff.

"Helena, You know that spell they use keeps me out unless they want me there and that's only on inspection day," she told him. "You know I can't break it."

That, would definitely, get some attention from the board. He felt this anger, seething, in his chest. This girl, sweet and charming girl, was locked out of the place where she should have been most welcomed. She was still shivering. Why hadn't she made herself a blanket yet? He couldn't take it anymore. He took out his wand and made her a blanket.

She gasped as the blanket appeared around her shoulders. "Oh no, Someone's here. Someone's been listening to everything I've said. What do I do now?"

"Run," he said. "Quickly. They may not recognize you yet."

The stairs were quick to move to where she needed to go. In her hurry, she left the blanket he'd given her. Her bare feet were pattering along the steps as fast as they could. He didn't mean to startle her, he just meant to stop her incessant shivering. It was distracting to him. He levitated the blanket he made for her back to him. He could use a locator spell to find her. That, however, would be left for tomorrow night. Right now, he needed to get ready to bunk down in the library tonight. He'd rather make himself known by the painting and having her scare the girl. Scaring the girl would only make her insufferable in her pleas to make her secret stay hidden. And right now, he was fairly certain that she had nothing he would want in exchange. And that, that made him slightly, not much but slightly, sad.


	3. Chapter 3

Rumplestiltskin slapped the alarm clock he'd set up for himself in this makeshift... whatever it was called. He didn't particularly care at this moment. He checked the time again. 5:00. If he hurried, he might be able to find Belle's residence before she woke up. First, he changed the color of the blanket and then cast the locator spell.

He followed his wand until it lead him to an unmarked door. Quietly, carefully, he opened the door. What was inside surprised him. The room was surprisingly bigger than he expected. About the length of two and a half broom closets long and one and a half wide. Inside was a wooden table and a chair which took up a good portion of the room. There were no windows and the only light was the one streaming in from the door he opened. There was a second door on the wall to his right but he wasn't going to venture that far yet. But what really penetrated a tiny portion of his heart, was Belle, she was still shivering under a poor excuse for a blanket. Her smaller frame curled up underneath the table. The poor girl didn't even have a pillow.

He couldn't stop himself. He reached down and put a hand to her cheek. She leaned into his hand like anyone who was freezing to the touch would to anything warm. He took the blanket he brought and covered her with it. She buried herself into the newfound warmth. For the first time he'd seen her in the past 8 hours, she'd finally stopped her incessant shivering.

He couldn't do too much more without her figuring out that someone had found her instead of an answered prayer.

He took another look at her face. She really was quite beautiful. Her smile was new to him. It melted a small dent into his hardened heart. When he looked at her, he didn't see a potential threat. He saw her as a person. One that was practically defenseless and vulnerable. One that just took everything thrown at her. Why else would she be in this place? But why hadn't she fixed up this place? She had magic. Why not use it?

"Mmmmmppph," he looked down to find her stirring. She trapped his hand between her arms and her cheek. He tried to slowly pull his hand out as held stayed entirely too long. "No, please, don't go. Please," she pleaded. Her eyes were shut tighter than ever. She had no idea what she was asking.

"I have to," he told her as he rubbed her back gently to ease her into letting him here his other hand back. Any trace of her smile was gone and replaced with fear. "But I promise you, I will come back. I will not forget about you so easily," he told her.

She moved once more to squeeze his hand with her own before she let him go.

He closed the door behind him and looked at his hand. She'd held his hand willingly. And with such care that shook him to his core. If only it had been real. These Hufflepuffs need to be taken down off their high horses. Rumplestiltskin was the man for the job.

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Rumplestiltskin headed back down the stairs to the dining hall for breakfast. His spot was open for him and he made his way quickly. "Zelena, Zelena," he called. He stopped to catch his breath. "Zelena, When did Belle spend the semester somewhere other than the Hufflepuff dormitory?"

"Oh, gosh, How long ago was that?" she thought hard trying to remember. "Years ago at least. The year Hook first hated Neil for taking Emma out on a date."

"I don't hate Neal for that," Hook tried to defend himself. "He purposely tried to cut off my other hand."

"Please, Everyone knew from the minute you caught Emma when she fell off the climbing rope in gym class you fell instantly in love with her. The only one who couldn't see it was Emma herself,'' Regina said.

"At least I'm not as bad as you and Robin Hood,'' he argued. "You two are so nauseating. Ever since that stupid carnival came into town and you two got "stuck" at the top."

"Well, At least I'm not pining over someone I was too chicken to ask out in the first place," Regina returned.

"If you're quite finished, I need to know the year," Rumplestiltskin said.

"Four years ago," Hook said sadly.

"Well, I've got some news that will blow your minds,'' he said. Everyone leaned in a little more. "Belle was never let back in. She's been living out of a closet for at least the past four years if not more."

"No way," Hades said.

''That's impossible," Regina stated. "How would she even do that?"

"Believe it," he said. "I found her this morning sleeping under a table with half a blanket to keep her freezing. If we play our cards right, we can set ourselves up to win the house cup before it's even begun."

"Why wouldn't she have made herself a bed?" Hook asked.

"Well, She might not believe deserves one," Zelena offered. "She may believe what she did was so bad she doesn't even deserve to be happy. She deserves to live only to suffer."

Everyone looked at Belle. She was wrapped up in the blanket Rumplestiltskin had given her this morning trying to warm herself with some hot apple cider. Her book was opened and lay in front of her on the wooden table.

"Poor lass," Hook said. "At least she got herself a blanket."

"I gave her that when I found her this morning almost frozen. She probably thinks it was a gift from above," Rumplestiltskin told them.

"Are we planning on doing something or not?" Hades asked.

"Not yet," he answered. "First we need to get her to be our friend. We need her to confess to what actually happened and what's happened since if we're going to drag Hufflepuff down far enough. No one would listen to us if she didn't even confirm what we've found. Then when they reassign her to a new house, she'll pick ours because we're the ones that rescued her. Then, We burn Hufflepuff to the ground."

"How do we get your plan off the ground?" Hook asked. "It's not like we're the cuddliest bunch of people.''

"We've all got her in some class or another," he started. "Just be friendly. If someone's already hanging with her, just play it cool. We start with two friends. I think Zelena and I have a better chance of getting her to open up to us than Hook or Hades here," he told them.

"You?" Regina questioned. "Why would anyone open up to you? You literally call yourself, The Dark One."

"I'm going in because like you said, I am The Dark One. She's The Crazy Girl. Why not clear up our titles?" he said. "I open up a tiny bit, she opens up a tiny bit, before you know it, she's fallen into our plan perfectly."

"From what I've seen, Belle has always been open to anyone," Zelena said. "If she believes Rumplestiltskin is her friend, she may believe that he'll be her protector and who better to protect her than The Dark One himself."

"Exactly," he agreed.

"So Rumplestiltskin will take point on this mission, all agree?" Regina asked.

"Aye," everyone answered.

"Great, Let's take Hufflepuff down,'' Regina said.

"Once and for all,'' Hook finished.

Rumplestiltskin grabbed his tray, walked past the other tables and sat down in front of Belle. It was time to get this plan in motion.

Belle was still slightly shivering. She didn't know how or who left her the blanket but for now she was happy to believe for once in her life she had a fairy godmother looking out for her. Any other option would mean that someone knew and she wasn't ready to face that possibility yet.

Her belief was soon shattered when none other than Rumplestiltskin Gold sat himself down right in front of her. Her shivering was now not as much from the cold as it was from fear. She'd never met the man in person but with his reputation, it was hard not to know about him. He was tall, really light brown hair that reached his shoulders, blue eyes and a grimace that could scare a bear. He was always in her potions class but he'd never talked to her once. It was once said that The Dark One could read your thoughts. She couldn't let that happen. Not yet.

"That apple cider doesn't seem to be working for you," he said before he took a bite of his food.

"Wha… What?" she asked. She was sure she misheard him.

"Your cider, dearie, it doesn't seem to be warming you up very well," he restated.

"It takes a little while before it kicks in," she told him.

"Tell me, Why is it that you shiver so much?" he asked. "I've seen you the past couple of days and you're always shivering."

"I, um, I, I, I'm afraid I have nothing warmer and you can only get so warm in a place with no heating," she told him. She sneezed.

It was small but Rumplestiltskin didn't find it that unpleasant. She covered her mouth and nose. There were plenty of worse sneezers out there.

"Why don't you make yourself some warmer clothes?" he asked. "I'm sure you'd stop shivering if you made yourself a sweater."

"I can't. I caught a cold and if I try casting and I sneeze during the middle of it something terrible could happen and it'd be all my fault," she told him.

Before she could say anything else, out of nowhere she was wearing a pretty cherry red sweater. It was the warmest thing she'd felt or even had in a while. She snuggled into her sweater unconsciously.

"Luckily for you, dearie, I haven't been sick in a very long time," he told her.

She smiled for the first real time at him. Rumplestiltskin found that it didn't mind it terribly.

"Wait, I've heard about you You don't give anyone anything without a price. What do I owe you?" she asked before she sneezed again.

"Looks like you're a slight bit smarter than I gave you credit for," he said. "This time, the price is that you stop that incessant shivering. It's very distracting. The next one will be a bit steeper."

She smiled at him again, "Thank you."

Rumplestiltskin hadn't been smiled at like that before. It was… unsettling. He liked it but he shouldn't. He wasn't here to make an actual friend. He was here to destroy Hufflepuff. He shouldn't want to put that outlying lock of hair back behind her ear where it was supposed to be. "So tell me," he said needing to move his thoughts in another direction. "What is your first class of the day?"

"Oh, I have Advanced Potions with Mr. Snape," she answered. "What about you?"

"I have that too," he told her.

"Cool," she said smiling a touch brighter. She looked down at her hands for a second before her smile vanished slowly. "Can I ask you a question? I have nothing to trade for an answer but um, why did you decide to sit with me?"

Rumplestiltskin felt that this was a question that didn't require that much of an exertion of energy. "Like I said, your shivering was distracting. I didn't feel like being annoyed."

"Yeah but you could have easily switched places with your group and not have had to look at me," she said. "No one's sat with me in years, much less even talk to me. Why now? Why me?"

That was a more difficult question to answer without telling her everything or crushing what was left of her frail heart. "I'm The Dark One. You're The Crazy One. I thought you might like something to keep you warm that would stop you from shivering so that I could finally concentrate. Look at that, it worked."

She had finally stopped shivering. She hadn't even noticed that. It was just so natural for her to be shivering that it was a miracle her body didn't just do it subconsciously. Her smile reappeared.

Rumplestiltskin stood up with his tray. "I'm gonna go throw this away and get ready for class. I trust I'll see you there?"

"Yes, of course," she told him happily.

"See you later Belle," he told her.

"See you later Rumplestiltskin," she promised him.

And with that, he left to do exactly what he said he would. The fact that the way she said his name was… something, was not traveling around his mind for the whole time until he saw her again. Course not. Nor the way she smelled like sugar cookies. Not in the slightest.

Regina turned back to the group and said, "We all agree that this isn't just about Hufflepuff right?"

"Oh my gosh, yes," Cruella De Vil said.

"That was so obvious it was almost unbelievable," Maleficent agreed.

"We all remembered what happened during the time of _Her_," Hook said.

"Even _he_ didn't deserve that," Zelena said.

"I haven't seen him this excited about a person since then," Regina continued.

"We all agree not to get in his way less we be smited by the wrath of The Dark One. Aye?" Hook asked.

"Aye," everyone answered.

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**Please R&R, It let's me know if this should be continued.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Just wanted to say thank you to the people that reviewed, you guys are super awesome. I'm hoping to post more conistantly lengthwise. Don't forget to tell me what you think in the review section. Now on with the story!**

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Rumplestiltskin walked into Professor Snape's class. The room was really warm due to the cauldrons ready for everyone but the dark green brick walls were less than friendly. The room was surrounded by everything one would need for a potion of most any kind. He would have to catalog everything so if he needed one for some reason he could know what would have to be obtained differently. There were some kids already there because they wanted to get on Professor Snape's good side. It wouldn't matter in the end. The man didn't like anyone. Himself included.

Belle came in about ten minutes before class started. She went straight up to the professor and for the first time in Rumplestiltskin's life, he saw the man smile. "Good morning Ms. Belle," he greeted.

"Good morning Professor," she greeted him cheerily.

"I do believe that's a new sweater, is it not?" he asked.

"It is," she answered him. "I got it from someone and I absolutely love it."

"I'm glad to see you finally got something for the weather, it's only going to get colder you know," he said.

"I do," she smiled. "Do you happen to have my old textbook?"

"Of course I do," he said as he reached underneath and pulled out a different looking textbook than the others stacked in some piles around his desk. "Already checked out for you for the entire year."

"Thank you very much, Professor," she said happily as she took the textbook. She lightly traced the cover with her fingers as if it were one of the most precious things in the world.

"I do have to warn you, there is an even number of people in this class. I asked for an odd number but once again, no one cares," he told her bringing her back from the slight daydream she was having.

"It's okay," she told him less excitedly. "Someone could talk to me or at the very least I could come after school and remake the potion for you."

"Ms. Belle, it will be a pity to lose you next year. Of all my students I've had over the years, I actually liked you," he told her.

"And you will always be my favorite teacher," she promised him. She then went to go take her seat at one of the outer cauldrons.

Rumplestiltskin was beyond confused. How in the world did this girl manage to get the Professor to like her, much more say it aloud? He took a seat on the outskirts as well but not too close to Belle. If she wanted to sit by him, she'd have to come over all by herself. She looked over at him and smiled. He gave her a small smile back but not as big as hers. He had a plan to keep up. The bell rang for class to start and everyone raced to their seats including a few stragglers which did not make the Professor smile.

"Good morning students," he greeted coldly. "Normally I wouldn't let you do this but since you are seventh-year students, and not complete idiots anymore, I have decided to let you pick your own partners for the rest of the year. You will be allowed one switch so please, use it wisely."

With that, everyone ran to find their friend before they had to either get stuck with either The Dark One or The Crazy One. Belle stood up slowly and walked somehow even slower to him and asked him, very nervously, "Hey, um, I was, well I was wondering if maybe, if maybe you would be my partner? No one here wants to even be near me so I was wondering if you could possibly be my partner? I can't do anything better than get you an A in this class. So, would you? Please?"

He pretended as if he was scanning the crowd. "Dearie, you're a far better option than most of these idiots here." She smiled happily at him. It was something a little more than happy. Grateful, he supposed. To finally be wanted by someone and not be the one rejected. He gestured to the open seat next to him which she cheerfully sat down in. He swore he almost heard her giggle.

"Thank you," she told him as she pulled in her chair.

Professor Snape went to the front of the class, "Alright class. Today, I want you to focus on doing page 67. Please, try hard not to break anything."

Belle whipped out her textbook hurriedly. He'd never seen anyone so excited for a potions class before. "If you don't mind me asking, why does your textbook look so different than the rest of ours?" he asked.

"It's just an older model," she told him before she whipped out a flashlight. He realized after a minute that this was a black light flashlight and not just a regular one. "Oh my gosh, this one's going to be so cool."

"It's just a levitation potion. We did this when we were 11," Rumplestiltskin said.

"That's what your textbook says," she told him. "Mine says, The minor draught of telekinetic control."

"What?" he asked leaning over her book. In glowing letters, was another potion entirely from everyone else's.

"It says we need, 3 bowtruckle legs, 5 shavings of unicorn hoof, 2 measle eyeballs, and 6 pinches of finely powdered moonstone," she told him right before she sneezed. "If you grab the hoof and eyes, I'll grab the legs and moonstone."

He had no idea why he was doing what she asked. He should have told her absolutely not and just grabbed the moonstone, yet here he was. He watched as she mixed the potion very carefully and added this and that when needed. He added his magic when asked if this worked he did need to have some involvement in it. Finally, She took a glass and filled it with the potion. She then took a sip of it. That he was utterly baffled by.

"You have to drink it in order for it to work right," she told him. He shook his head slightly at the craziness he was witnessing. "Please don't look at me like that."

He was pulled from his thoughts in confusion. She looked so sad. Like she'd just been pulled away from something she loved. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I've seen that look so many times," she told him. "I'm not crazy like everyone thinks I am. It may be weird to see but I promise I'm not crazy. That look is almost worse than someone telling me that I am straight to my face. Please, Don't look at me like that. I don't want that to be what you think I am."

Rumplestiltskin felt like his heart was being squeezed. Everyone looked at her like that and it hurt her. Deeper than a lot of other things. He hadn't meant to hurt her. And it bothered him, he had no idea why though. He was so tired of people hurting her and here he did it himself when he was supposed to be trying to be her friend. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you like that. For the record, I don't think you're crazy. I think your intelligence has been ridiculed far too often by those who can't even comprehend that the world doesn't revolve around them."

He swore there were tears lining in her eyes. Though he didn't get a good look at them because seven seconds later her arms were wrapped around him and he was in the first hug he'd had in years. "Thank you," she whispered. She quickly pulled out and went back to the cauldron to finish the necessary amount she needed to drink. He couldn't believe how empty he felt right then. All her warmth had slipped from him and he was practically paralyzed.

She had grabbed some extra moonstone and sprinkled it on Rumplestiltskin book and called over the professor. "Alright Miss Belle, let's see what you have for us today."

"With pleasure," she said. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the book. After a few seconds, the book began to rise. Then he noticed, everything else that had been used in everyone else's potions were floating too. They all started flying around Belle in a clean circle before they were returned to where they had been before.

"Excellent job, Belle," he told her with a smile on his face.

"Thank you, sir, but Rumplestiltskin was very helpful too," she explained.

"Well then, A+ for you both then," he told them as he wrote down their grades in his book, heading back to his desk.

"Belle that was amazing," he told her placing a hand on her shoulder. She smiled so brightly at him. That was what he liked seeing. Her smiling, it felt right. When she smiled at him like that, It was like his world got a little lighter. A little nicer. He didn't exactly know why. After all, she was just a means to an end. He couldn't forget that.

"Trust me, Rumple," she told him. "As long as you stick with me, this class will be a breeze."

"I have every confidence of that," he told her.


	5. Chapter 5

**I am so excited today because I got my first follower for my story today! You're awesome Melstrife :) It might take me a little longer for the next chapter because I want to make it perfect for you guys. Don't forget to Review. And now, on with the book!**

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Zelena was going to her next class, Defence Against the Dark Arts. This was the class she was going to have her first encounter with their ticket to the house cup, Belle French. This had to go well otherwise Rumplestiltskin would kill her and she would like to graduate before that.

The classroom had the same typical desk set up as most. Four by eight. This year, there were papers hanging from all over the ceiling and the old, light wood walls were filled with drawings of every kind of wand, witch, wizard, and magical creature known in the realm. It wasn't even organized. Everything was haphazardly around with no correlation what so ever.

She waited in the back until her target entered. She couldn't figure out why Rumplestiltskin had fallen for this one. She looked helpless. She reminded Zelena of a young kitten that wanted to play with yarn but didn't because she'd get caught. She walked over to her casually and took the seat next to her. "Hi, Do you mind if I sit next to you?" she asked kindly.

"Really? You want to sit next to me?" Cruella is sitting over there and Hook is over there. Not that you're not welcome here, because you are, I just mean, I thought you'd want to sit next to your friends," she explained nervously.

"Cruella and I have a, you don't hurt me I don't hurt you, kind of relationship," she told her. "Plus Hook's sitting there because he wants to be close to Emma Swan. Plus, I know you're smart. I think you'd make a good partner."

"Really?" Belle asked.

"Are you always this unsure of yourself darling?" she teased.

Belle blushed, "It's just, This has been one of the best days of my life. Not only do I have two people who will even talk to me but they want to be my partner too."

"If I may ask, How long has it been since anyone's talked to you?" Zelena asked as carefully as she could. She almost thought that she had pushed her too far too fast and wasn't going to answer the way she looked down at her hands.

"Almost 4 years," she answered quietly ashamed.

Zelena couldn't believe that. That couldn't be true. This girl was at least a nice person, granted she hadn't known her very long but still. There was no way she hadn't been talked to by another student in four years. It pulled on her heart. She couldn't imagine being cast out like that. She put her hand on the girl's shoulder and she looked up at her, "I think that it's time that changed for good. Don't you agree?"

She shook her head vehemently, "I would like that very much."

The new teacher came up to the front of the room. He was about Madam Hooch's age. He had whitening blonde hair, stern dark blue eyes, rosy cheeks, and no smile on his face. He, for some reason, was wearing a lab coat over his brown shirt, pants, and black loafers. He was a stout, short man but bared no resemblance to a kind old soul, the way most like him were. He had a book with small sticky notes showing from all sections of the book. He wrote his name, Professor Nagadom, in big cursive letters on the blackboard before turning back to the class. "Do you know, class, what attacked me the night of February 19, 1976?" he asked them.

Everyone kinda shook their heads not really knowing whether or not he really wanted an answer.

"Of course not," he told them unsurprised. "Even I don't know what I got attacked by so how could you possibly know."

Zelena turned to Belle hoping she could bring some light onto what was going on only to find she didn't know much more than she did.

"It was February 19, 1976," he began. The whole class seemed to slump as they realized that they were going to be hearing this story for a long time. "It was snowing heavily and there was no stars or moonlight to guide me and my troope back to the safety of our cabins. We'd trekked for miles as we had gotten lost in the snow for some time. We were all exhausted. After all, We were on our last survival trip with no wands or magic of any kind. When all of a sudden we attacked!"

Some of the earlier year students gasped and jumped in their chairs while the older kids just stared at him unimpressed because they'd all had teachers that only had one fixation. Zelena, however, noticed that Belle was rooting deep into her textbook with some odd flashlight making letters appear on her textbook appear. "What's that?" she whispered.

"Textbooks printed before 1986 had black light notes written in by some of the most powerful wizards and witches that lived to tell their tales," she answered. "Brick Osborn, Marryette Littletin, Kiffle Tucker, all of them put in these types of notes in here. There was even a rumor that the original Dark One even put some findings in here but I haven't found any of those yet. I'm pretty sure that those are all password protected. You see, he may not know what attacked him but maybe someone else does."

"It was completely black except for the two white ovals that would have been its' eyes. It had three giant claws. Its' giant tail had big spikes on the end that gave me this scar," he said as he lifted his shirt.

This time everyone screamed at the sight of the absolutely horrifying, disfiguring scar that spread from one of his hips to the other. It clearly hadn't been treated right.

"The beast came in and attacked us all. We were all lucky to make it out of their alive," he finished.

"I got it! It was a Bangnosh!" Belle said a little louder than she intended to for she covered her mouth with her hand.

"Excuse me?" he said clearly not amused. "What did you say it was?"

"Well, It, um, It sounds like it was a, um, a Bangnosh, sir," she told him, knowing she'd put herself on his list of people who would not be letting her pass, at least with the grade she was wanting.

"I," he stressed, "have never heard of a _Bangnosh_."

"Well, um, it's a creature with, with three legs. It usually has silver eyes unless it is a completely dark night where their eyes turn pure white," she started explaining. "It has a black skin covering it from its' cat-like ears to its' stegosaurus-like tail. It's usually not an aggressive beast unless it feels threatened by a group of other animals. And it's known for, it's, really, odd, um, upcurled, um, talens."

Belle had slowed way down by the end because the new professor was now very much in her face. He quickly took the book from her and looked at it himself. "These are bowtuckles."

"You need the blacklight to see it, sir," she offered him hers trying to assist him and possibly get back in his good graces.

"Are you trying to make me look stupid?" he asked her.

"No, sir. Of Course not," she answered him very nervously.

"Do think me an incompetent fool who can't see what's right in front of his face?" he asked even angrier.

"No not all I just…," she tried before she was quickly interrupted.

"Thought you could waltz all over me. Well, I'm sorry to tell you that you are quite wrong," he said. He closed her textbook and walked back up to the front. "Let this be a lesson to you all. I am not one that will be messed with. Try it, and you will end up facing far more consequences than she did."

Belle's head fell into her hands. Her eyes shut tight. She felt like the biggest failure ever. Zelena knew that this was her open window. She put her arm around her and pulled her close, slowly rubbing her shoulder with her thumb. Zelena couldn't believe the nerve of that guy. He wouldn't even try to see if what Belle was saying was true. That jerk. She turned her attention back to Belle. "Hey, Don't worry about that old froghopper. He's just a mean old man who got picked on when he was in school. Darling, I believe you no matter what anyone says."

She sniffled before looking up at her, "Really?"

"Of course. You have absolutely nothing to worry about," she promised. "How about you sit with me at dinner tonight? Afterwards, you and I can study up together. Besides, You're probably going to need to borrow a textbook anyways. Right?"

She shook her head and laughed lightly. Zelena gave her a small squeeze before taking her arm back and sliding her textbook in between them as their Professor went rampaging on about all the crazy things he'd seen in his many years of being a wizard's troop leader.


	6. Chapter 6

**Got my first favorite for this story! Up to 2 followers and an old friend stopped and said hello, leaving a nice review for me. I got some awesome people rooting for me and I really appreciate that so much. Hope you all enjoy this next chapter and I appreciate any and all reviews. Now without further adieu, **

* * *

Rumplestiltskin waited anxiously for Belle to come down for dinner. He wanted to get her out of that dungeon she was living in as fast as he could without disrupting the plan. Sue him, he was ambitious not a monster. He cared about things. For example, winning the House Cup. He'd arrived early and made sure that she could sit between him and Zelena.

"Rumplestiltskin, If you don't stop worrying you're going to stare that doorway into oblivion," Regina told him.

He quickly turned to face the rest of the group. "Dinner's halfway over and she's still not here yet. I'm sorry if I'm concerned that our plan to win the house cup is falling apart," he told her more angrily than concerned. "She said she would be here so why isn't she?"

"Maybe her Mr. Filtwick held back to talk with her," Zelena offered.

"The lass could have had a dilemma that needed her full attention and merely forgot to tell one of us," Hook said.

"Yes and she could have also broken a limb or something. That doesn't really ease my nerves right now," Rumplestiltskin told them.

"Well lucky for you, She didn't because here she comes now," Regina told him.

Had Rumplestiltskin's head moved any faster they swore it would have snapped clean off. He sighed relieved that he finally had affirmation she was alive and well and that his plan was going well according to plan. Zelena waved Belle over and she quickly made her way over.

"I'm so sorry I'm late, I was helping Madam Pince reshelve some books and time got away from me," She told them as she sat down.

"It's all right darling," Zelena said placing a hand on Belle's shoulder. "We're all just happy you're alive."

"Belle this is Regina, Hook, Pan, Maleficent, Cruella, Jafar, Gaston, Hades, Ursella, Ingrid, and Arthur," Rumplestiltskin introduced everyone. All of them gave her their greeting when called on.

"Nice to make your acquaintance lass," Hook said extending his good hand to her.

"Nice to meet you too," she smiled.

"So Belle, Rumplestiltskin here, tells us that you're quite the wiz with potions," Regina started off the conversation.

"Oh I don't know about that," she told her. "Mr. Snape used to let me help out in class as his personal assistant so I just got a little extra practice in. Unfortunately, This year I'm unable to because I need at least one credit of Charms in order to graduate and I've been putting it off for so long I have to do it this semester."

"Wait, Professor Snake, The man who made sure I didn't get anything higher than a B, pulled you out of your charms class, for six years, just so you could help him out around that man's prison?" Regina asked.

"It's mostly to help the first-year students," she explained. "You know how bad we all were when we first started."

"Oh We all remember Hook's first attempt to make a potion," Peter Pan said smirking. "That's how he lost his hand in the first place."

"Oh my gosh, What happened?" Belle asked very concernedly.

"Oh relax love," Hook assured her. "It's been over six years now. I'm quite alright."

"Hook got bitten by a poisonous snake when he went to grab some ingredients for the potion he was making, poor thing," Zelena told her. "If Rumplestiltskin hadn't taken his hand off as fast as he did, Hook here, would have been dead in three minutes."

"Plus, I got this cool magic hook in the process," he showed her smiling. "Along with my colorful moniker."

"That sounds just awful," Belle said with a queasy feeling in her stomach.

"Don't worry, He got over it a long time ago," Regina told her. "Unlike his obsession with Emma Swan."

"What is this? Pick on Hook day?" he asked not too offended because he knew that none of them were actually making fun of him.

"I know Emma," Belle said. "She the blonde girl with the red jacket that transferred here a couple of years ago right?"

"That's her alright," Hook said.

"Wait were you the one that caught her when she fell off that rope in gym class four years ago?" she asked.

"Indeed I am," he answered.

"She comes in the library sometimes and I overhear her every once and a while," she started. "She still remembers you. She'd hoped you'd ask her out a long time ago. I remember her saying she wished it was you instead of Neal. She broke up with him because she couldn't truly care for him because she cared for someone else."

"Are you serious?" he asked her.

"Absolutely. She was talking about it with Snow, Ruby, and Ella," she told him. "But I wouldn't ask her out yet. Get a white rose, those are one of her favorites, and ask her out during lunch when we're all eating outside at the picnic on Wednesday. She'll love it."

"Alright, Thanks," he said. "I'll give it a shot."

"Hey Belle, Zelena said you found a cool looking creature in your textbook, a Bangerdosh?" Pan asked.

"A Bangnosh, I'd show it to you but Professor Nagadom took my textbook and I don't know when I'll be getting it back," she told him.

"He made a big example out of her in class," Hook said. "It was not pretty."

"I had the old coot last period," Maleficent told them. "All he did was go on and on about that stupid attack. I actually wanted him to start teaching us from the book."

"I say, One of us goes and gets her textbook back tonight," Rumplestiltskin suggested. "Show that twit he can't mess with us."

"But if he sees me with a book, he'll think I'm the one who stole it and I'll just get in more trouble," Belle told him.

"Not if you have a different book than the one he took," Regina started. "If one of us grabs your book, you can have our old one and we just hang on to yours until you need."

"Then you could show me the Bangnosh during our off time at some point," Pan continued.

"Okay so who's going to grab the textbook?" Zelena asked. "It can't be me. I'm too obvious."

"Alas, My pickpocketing skills are not all that great," Hook said. "Although my lock picking is pretty good."

"I could take a go at it," Maleficent offered. "I'm in an entirely different period. I _forget_ to bring my book, ask to borrow one, he gives me Belle's, and I _forget_ to give it back."

"Sounds like a plan," Rumplestiltskin said.

"Hold on, I don't want anyone getting in trouble just so I can use a book," Belle told them. "I can't ask you to do this."

"You didn't, darling," Zelena told her putting a hand on her shoulder. "We want to do this for you. Professor Nagadom need's to be taken down a peg. Plus we'll take any excuse to cause a little mischief. As long as we're careful, nobody gets hurt."

"So it's official, Maleficent will grab the book tomorrow and will give Belle her old one, Everyone?" Pan asked for the vote.

"Aye," everyone but Belle agreed. Quite frankly, she was still flabbergasted over what had just transpired. She'd heard that the Slytherin were cunning, ambitious, conniving, and above all not to be messed with but these people were all so caring and nice. Not at all what she'd expected. They all seemed to like her. Not to mention it was really nice to finally have some friends again.

"Well as much as I hate to ruin good conversation," Zelena started. "Belle, You and I have some studying to do."

"Oh, Yes of course," she said as they stook up to go throw away their trays.

The rest of the table watched them as they left. Rumplestiltskin couldn't help but feel a sense of pride in Belle. She seemed to fit well into the group. It wasn't awkward and she didn't seem too uncomfortable. This was good. His plan was moving very well to where he wanted it to be. "What do you guys think about her?" he asked them.

"I think she's cool," Pan said. "Can't remember the last time someone cared about if we got caught or not."

"I like what I've seen so far," Maleficent agreed. "I think she's one of our better projects but I want to make sure she is who she appears to be before we go making her one of us."

"Well, I for one, like the lass," Hook told everyone. "She's a keeper."

"You just like her because she told you that you could and how to get with Emma," Regina said. "I'm not convinced just yet. Something about her doesn't sit with me right."

"You mean other than the fact that she's forced to live in a storage closet and hasn't been talked to in four years?" Pan asked flippantly.

"As a matter of fact yes," she spat back. "There was a reason that this happened and I want to know what it was. You don't just get kicked out of a house like that without a decent reason. And it was Hufflepuff for Pete's sake."

"Well lucky for you, dearie, she's not moving in just yet," Rumplestiltskin told her. "You'll warm up to her, just give her a chance. We'll find out soon enough what the reason was. She'll tell us that part when she's ready."

"I think we should speed this up a bit," Hook said. "Maybe she could be better friends with Pan in their Alchemy class, Rumplestiltskin and Zelena could meet up with her a little more often outside of class. We all wave the lass when we pass her in the halls. Just some small things to make her feel more at home until we are her home."

"That shouldn't be too hard," Pan said. "I could use her expertise in this department and the sooner we get her out of that dungeon the better I think."

"If all I have to do is wave, fine but don't push too fast," Regina warned them. "The minute anyone of us slips up and she figures out we know where she's staying, she gets scared and runs. She needs to tell us herself or all of this would have been worthless."

"You don't need to remind us, dearie," Rumplestiltskin told her. "We are all more than aware that if we fail, she will be living in that daft place for the rest of the year, we'll her completely and we'll be also be set way back a good ways back from winning the House Cup as nicely as we thought."

"I need to ask you Rumplestiltskin," Regina started. "Have your priorities changed?"

"What exactly are you referring to?" he asked annoyed that she would even question him.

"Is your first priority the House Cup or… is it Belle?" she asked. "Lately I'm concerned that your losing which priority should be coming first. You're rushing. Out of anyone here you could easily out wait all of us. You're playing risky. Is it us you're worried about or is it her?"

Rumplestiltskin should have been able to answer her much faster than he did but he couldn't because she'd asked him something he wasn't completely sure on either. The past few days had been full of so much craziness that he hadn't really had a chance to step back and look at it all. She was right in the fact that he had been more reckless in this whole scheme but they were also playing for higher stakes. They were playing for someone's life.

At the same time, he could easily say that Belle didn't make him unhappy. She was different than most people he'd met. She did good and expected nothing in return, not even recognition or much less a thank you. She was this warm, comforting thing that made him truly feel the way he hadn't felt in a long time. He wasn't unhappy that she was around him or that her smile made him want to do a lot of things to keep it there. This life meant whether or not they won the Cup. But was she worth more?

"My motives have not changed," he answered. "Whether you believe that or not is your problem. I want to win this cup. I thought you did too."

"I'm just making sure we're all on the same page," she told him. "I'd hate to be mislead and made a fool when it all our cards are folded."

"Believe me, dearie, I have never been more confident in my hand," he told her. He just hoped his bluff didn't cost him in the end.


	7. Chapter 7

**Guess who's back, Back Again! It's a terrible joke but it's true. This has been overdue for awhile and I happy to finally be getting back to work on this. But enough of my blathering, on with the show! **

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Belle and Zelena were in the library studying for the next day. They'd made it from Abservan all the way to Bowtuckles when Belle stopped to ask Zelena a question. "Hey Zelena?" she started.

"What it is it?" she asked kindly. When she looked into Belle's eyes they were full of worry and concern but she had no idea why.

"You've known Rumplestiltskin for six years now, right?" she asked not really asking what she wanted to but trying to ease into her question.

"Darling what is it you're trying to ask me?" she skipped through all the roundabouts that she could see coming.

"What happened to him?" she asked. "He used to laugh and smile a lot more when we were littler. He didn't use to be so… hard and skeptical. What happened?"

"I see you missed out on the reign of Milah," she said. She probably shouldn't be telling her this. It was Rumplestiltskin's life and he should be sharing this with her. But the look in Belle's eyes told her that this girl cared that he'd become this way. That she wanted to help him. That she cared for him. And if there was any way she was going to be able to do that, she was going to have to need to know the whole story. She looked around cautiously, making sure he wasn't around, "Rumplestiltskin will kill me if finds out I told you."

"Then don't, I don't want you getting in trouble," she tried to convince her.

"But I think you need to know," she told her. She checked around them one more time. "Do you remember a girl named Milah Turner?

"Uh, not really," she answered.

"Well," Zelena began, "Milah Turner is in the Ravenclaw house. Rumplestiltskin was working on trying to perfect one of his spells when she came up to him and asked if she could borrow a pencil. They made it a routine to swap pencils back and forth with each other before he asked her out on a date. It was all very innocent until one day it wasn't.

You have to understand. Rumplestiltskin wasn't the bravest guy in the world but he was very caring. He'd fallen for Milah three fourths through the year. They hadn't kissed yet but that was because he wanted to make sure she wanted to. He went to go surprise her with a flower he'd planted by hand. He turned the corner to find Milah kissing another guy. He confronted her right then and there, wanting to know how the love of his life was kissing this other guy. The diva told him that she didn't want a coward who wouldn't make the first move. She wasn't going to sit around for him to finally stop being a coward."

Belle was almost in tears. How could anyone do that to him? He was only wanting to do right by her and she threw his kindness in his face. Worse, She made him feel like it was his fault when it was all hers. She found herself gripping tightly to the bottom of her sweater. The one Rumplestiltskin had given her. "What happened after that?" she asked so worriedly.

"Rumplestiltskin didn't come out his room for two whole days," Zelena continued. "And when he finally did, he wasn't the same man he was before. He cared about nothing more than the House Cup and getting his magic stronger. He'd built his walls up around his heart so thick it was like trying to dig at titanium with a plastic spoon. He didn't trust anyone. It took months for him to trust us to even follow through with one of his plans. He's better now but there's still a lot of walls built up."

Belle was now holding herself as if hugging her sweater would somehow give him the support he'd so desperately needed. There was a tear rolling down her cheek with plenty more that were able to follow.

"Hey, He's better now. He's much better than he was before," Zelena promised her putting her arm around her for support. She hadn't realized it before. Why Rumplestiltskin had taken such an interest in Belle. He saw so much of himself in her. He saw someone who'd been betrayed by people they loved. He saw the pain that was put behind walls that had been holding together by tired and worn ropes that would never admit to wanting to take a break and just be held.

The only difference was that one now scared of the world and the other was angry at it.

"Do you think there's any hope for him to love again?" Belle asked, her eyes begging that the answer was yes, that he wasn't forced to live a life where no one cared for him… like they had her.

"You needn't worry," she told her. "From what I've seen, I think he's close to getting the love he doesn't believe he could ever receive," she said looking at what could be Rumplestiltskin's saving grace.

"I really hope you're right," Belle told her.

* * *

The next few days went by quickly as Belle was integrated into the friend group nicely. She was so excited it was like this ball of loving energy had taken root in his darling little Belle. Wait, When had she become his? Well, She certainly wasn't Hufflepuff's anymore. Everyone has to have a home of some kind right? He didn't mind if it meant him and his friends.

Everyone loved Belle. Even Regina got over her skepticism after a while. It was impossible to like her. Rumplestiltskin walked downstairs to have breakfast with everyone. His usual seat next to Belle was open and waiting for him. He slid into his seat as Belle engaged in the pleasant conversation he used to find so annoying.

"So Hook," she began chipperly. "Did you ask Emma out on a date yet?"

"I am very close to darling," he promised her laughing at how he knew he was actually going to do it. "I've got a plan for how to get here near me without her thinking it's a date. All I need to do now is make some decent food."

"How are you're cooking skills?" she asked him.

"I will need a taste tester if that's what you're asking," he laughed again.

She giggled at that, excited that she got to be useful to someone. "I'll meet you in the kitchen an hour before dinner then."

"Just don't forget we need to go over those notes for the DADA test tomorrow," Zelena reminded her.

"Yep, After dinner," she promised.

"Hey wait, you promised to work on my potions with me after dinner with me," Pan protested.

"I thought I said after lunch I'd help you," she told him.

He paused for a minute trying to remember, "I don't remember that but that can work for me."

"Excellent," she clapped. "Rumple, Don't forget we have to go over potions project tonight. I'll come back to the dorms with Zelena when we're done studying."

"Sounds like a plan," he told her giving her a small side hug. He couldn't help but wish that time would come so much faster. When Belle had become his pet project, he hadn't expected everyone to like her as much as they did. His potions class was the only excuse he had to get some alone time with her in order to make sure his plans were still moving forward in getting her out of that stupid dungeon she lived in.

He should talk to Regina and Zelena about setting up a sleepover or something with her. After all, If she was going to be moving in with them, she might as well get used to the place she would hopefully call home soon enough.

"Oh and Regina I have that spell for you so I'll drop it off before I leave with Rumple," Belle promised her.

She simply gave her a thumbs up as she was currently occupied with her food.

"Darling we're gonna be late if we don't hurry," Rumplestiltskin told her.

"Oh yes," she said as she quickly grabbed her tray to follow him. She'd always follow whoever wanted her with such a freeing feeling and you could see it in her steps as she walked with them. Like everyone had an adventure just waiting to show her if she came along. It was just so her. He found her so fascinating.

She always was ready for every class because, he assumed, she never wanted them to walk to her dungeon and find out her situation. So they got his textbook from his room but he only had it so Professor Snape would be appeased.

They entered the class about 15 minutes early, per Belle's request, and headed to their seats.

"Mr. Gold," the professor called him. "May I see you for a minute?"

Rumplestiltskin looked to Belle, his eyes widened, but she gave him a small smile and nodded her head towards the professor. He walked carefully over to Professor Snape.

"Mr. Gold, I want to know what your intentions are for your partner in this class," he told him sternly. "If Ms. Belle is your easy A, that's fine but I would just like to know for future reference."

Rumplestiltskin looked at him in a confused manner. He didn't know exactly what he wanted but he could tell him the truth, or at least some of it. Yes, They were using Belle but he wasn't particularly using her for this class. "Belle is a wonderful person. She cares a great deal about the people she's close to and takes care of us all. I'm happy to have Belle as a partner and a friend. The fact that she makes sure our projects are all A's is just a plus. I can promise you, I'm looking out for her and so are the rest of my friends," he told him. Surprisingly, this was the first time he'd ever truly said Belle made him happy. It was concerning.

Then he looked over at her. She was busying herself by getting all the ingredients for the improved potion that they were going to do. She had the biggest smile on her face. She looked so happy. It made sense that her happiness was contagious. Everyone else in her group of friends seemed to fall to it as well.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if she came to live with them a little quicker than they'd planned. He would have to be very careful in how he executed this. One misstep, one slip up and she'd get the very wrong idea that she was only being used to win the house cup and that they didn't actually care about her as their friend. That, however, was just not true anymore.

Belle waved for him to come over so they could start working on their project. He smiled at her and walked over. He beamed with pride as he watched her work meticulously over each speck, drop, and sprinkle of whatever substance she had currently in her hand.

As he watched her, his smile began to slowly fade away. He began thinking about all she'd gone through. How could anyone abandon her the way she'd been. She was loving, caring, supportive, strong, and somehow she'd been left to her own to fend for herself. Why? Why had they done it? He was going to get some answers sooner than later and that started by getting her out of her dungeon. Tonight.

**Please review and let me know if you like it. Any comments are appreciated. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Today's the day! Oh, I'm so excited. Finally! I put myself through a lot of emotions when I wrote this. Hope you like it. Onwards!**

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Rumplestiltskin sat down in his seat at their table for lunch. It was happening. Tonight, they were bringing Belle home for good. But how? He looked around at the others. Belle was currently in the library showing Pan something, he couldn't remember.

"Rumplestiltskin!" Hook yelled at him to get his attention.

He jumped slightly at his voice as he'd been deep in thought. "What is it?" he asked.

"I asked you how much longer we're going to wait until we stop stringing Belle along, pretending we don't know where she's been staying?" he told him. "We're getting too involved. None of us are able to sit right with this anymore. The lass is our friend and we are all very close to slipping up and blowing this up, possibly losing her in the process."

"I've nearly stumbled two times in the past three days almost asking about Hufflepuff," Regina told him.

"I feel sick about lying to her," Zelena told him. "She's too good for what we're doing. Whenever I'm around her all I want to do is confess. This is not normal."

"Would you all calm down?" Rumplestiltskin asked them slightly peeved. "You'll be happy to know that we're getting her out tonight. That, however dearie, is _if_ we can muster up a good enough plan for this."

"We accidentally stumble into the closet, trying to hide from one of the teachers," Zelena said immediately.

"We were out late planning a prank on Gryffindor and we were almost caught by Professor Nagadom and so we ducked in the first open door we saw," Hook expanded upon.

"We find her and we insist that she come back with us," Zelena continued. "We're gonna need at least two people so she can't make us _keep her secret_ from the rest of us. I think some combination either of myself, Hook, you, and Pan."

Rumplestiltskin leaned back in his chair and sighed. Everyone looked at him worriedly. Everyone knew this was up to him and if they all couldn't come up with a decent enough plan they would have to push this part of the plan back further than anyone wanted to. He took a deep breath and asked, "What prank are we pulling?"

They smiled and began happily planning their new scheme.

* * *

Belle wrapped herself up under the blanket given to her by her guardian angel. She knew she had someone out there looking out for her. Ever since her night that night, her life had been going in the right direction. She had more friends than she could have ever asked for, she was doing very well in almost all of her classes, Charms was getting harder and harder though. She was the happiest she had been in a long time.

She laid her head down on her pillow and closed her eyes, ready for the good dreams to come back and fill her head again. She didn't know how long she'd been sleeping but all of a sudden she woke to the sound of her door being opened. Three sets of feet shuffled in and that was the last thing she saw before she curled up and covered herself with the blanket, praying that she wouldn't be found.

"I think we're in the clear mates."

Hook? What was he doing in here? She hoped he wasn't in any trouble.

"Darling when you said that you knew we had exactly 10 minutes before the tranquilizer spell wore off on those bowtuckles wore off I assumed that you had planned for more than two minutes for an escape."

Zelena? Bowtuckles? Oh no. That was not good. They were going to end up in so much trouble.

"Let's just remember that this was all for their stunt trying to set loose all those red ants in our rooms last week."

Rumple? This was really bad. The bowtuckles were no longer her primary concern. That belonged to making herself as still as possible and praying that they didn't find her. She didn't know what she would do if they found her. She was so scared that she would turn back into the girl she was last year. Alone, laughed at, ashamed, crying herself to sleep at night. She couldn't handle that again. Not again.

"Hey, What's that thing under the table?" Hook asked.

She froze solid. This was it. Everything was about to be taken away from her. Everything she cherished was at the verge of being destroyed.

The blanket was lifted off her hiding form. She looked and saw Rumple, Zelena and Hook all crouching in front of her with Rumple holding his wand up to shed some light.

"Belle?" Zelena asked. They all looked shocked at her.

"Darling, What are you doing here?" Rumple asked her concerned.

"Lass, Are you sleeping here?" Hook asked her kindly.

"I… I… I…," she tried to say something. Anything. She couldn't think of anything to say but all she could do was try and hold back the tears of her inevitable end.

"Oh Darling,'' Rumple said before pulling her close into a hug. She accepted it immediately, wrapping her arms around his neck as his went around her waist. Zelena joined in the hug and Hook put his hand on Belle's shoulder since there wasn't any more room.

"Belle, Hey, You're all right sweetheart. You're all right,'' he whispered to her.

"Belle, How long have you been living here?" Zelena asked.

She answered as best she could between her tears, "Four years."

"Why in the blazes have you been living here for so long?" Rumplestiltskin asked her.

She shook her against his shoulder sobbing. "Because it was all my fault," she wrenched out of her chest.

"What happened, lass?" Hook asked her.

"I, I, I was making a potion," she started trying to keep talking. "One of th-th-the other k-k-kids was playing and th-th-threw something in my cauldron. I-I-It s-st-started a f-f-fire. I tried b-b-but I c-c-couldn't put it out. The whole room w-w-was on fire. Th-th-they put it out but it, it, it, alm-m-most killed s-s-someone. They told me t-t-to leave and and and n-n-never come back. They prom-m-mised that they wouldn't tell anyone b-b-but, it was all my fault."

Rumple held her tighter as she just cried. All this time, No one ever really knew. It must have been horrible for her. She had distanced herself from everyone because she thought that if she got too close that she would end up hurting someone. Oh, He wished that he could take all her pain away. He wished that he could give her everything she needed. He wished she knew how truly loved she was. By everyone of course.

"Hey, Don't worry there lass," Hook told her. "You're gonna come with us and we're going to take you back to our dorms."

"You have nothing to worry about, Darling," Zelena promised her. "We're all going to take care of you. We promise."

"Really?" Belle asked. "You want me to go with you?"

"Of course," Hook assured her. "You're one of us and we take care of one another."

Belle smiled at them as she wiped away some of her tears. Her smile was so full of gratefulness. She couldn't believe how lucky she was for having friends would stick by her side like this. They helped her bring what little she had back to her room. All the while, Rumple kept her safely under his arm as they made their way back to the Slytherin dorms. Everyone was surprised to see her but they didn't pry when Hook told them he'd explain everything but that she needed to get some rest.

Rumple guided her out of the main area and into one of the many rooms. The room he led her into was painted the same green everything else was with wooden crown molding. There were two queen beds pressed up against the left wall with checkered green and white comforters and wooden headboards. The green carpet was a slightly darker color but oh was it soft. But what she perhaps loved most about the room was on the wall in front of her was a bay window with a plush brown seat and the bookshelf that spread across the entire right wall. "It's wonderful," she told him.

"This is Zelena's room," he told her. "Her roommate dropped out her last year due to a problem of, um, _bad habits_ let's call it. I'm sure she won't mind you staying here with her."

"Not at all," Zelena told them entering the room as well. Rumplestiltskin released his hold on Belle and he wasn't the only one disappointed by the end of the sweet feeling that had burrowed into their hearts. Zelena continued, "I'd be delighted to room with you, Belle. Though I do have to warn you, if you touch my make-up I will kill you."

Belle laughed with Zelena as she moved to set her stuff on her bed. "Thank you both so much. I can't tell you what this means to me."

"You are never going to have to worry about this sort of thing again, Darling Belle," Rumple promised her. "We're going to make everything right. No matter what it takes."

"You can count on that," Zelena reassured her.

"Thank you," she told them one more time before she gave them both hugs.

"Alright," Rumplestiltskin started. "I'm gonna let you two get settled in. I'll see you both in the morning. Good night."

"Good night, Rumple," Belle told him before he closed the door.

Belle fell onto the bed, happy as could be. She hugged her blanket tightly. Her guardian angel was looking out for her.

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**I love ending on a happy note. Let me know what you all think. I promise we aren't coming to a close too soon. We gotta get a Muggle through Hogwarts still. Please Review!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Inspiration has finally struck! I'm posting not one but two chapters today. Hope you lovely people all enjoy this and I'm hoping you like the second on even better.**

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Belle awoke that morning not to a cold, dingy, stuffy closet but to a warm soft bed that made her just want to go back to sleep.

"Come on Belle," Zelena told her. "We've got to get a move on if we're going to make breakfast."

"Oh, Why do you have to be right?" Belle asked as she reluctantly slipped out of bed. She went to the bathroom to freshen up. She walked back to her bed when she realized that she'd left all her other clothes in the closet. "Oh shoot, I'll be back. I forgot my stuff last night."

"Why don't you just use a spell? Certainly much easier than running all over the school for it," Zelena suggested.

"Nah, That's okay. It'll just be a minute and I'll be right back," she told her and began to walk towards the door.

"Darling, Wait a second," she stopped her. Belle turned back around so Zelena could see her face. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just need to go and get my things," she answered.

"Belle, You're hiding something from me," she said. It wasn't an angry kind of tone just concerned. "Your voice went up, you're shoulders are all tense and you've got that look in your eye whenever you're really nervous."

Belle's head sank some and her gaze went to the floor. She didn't want to be caught. The Slytherin hated muggles. The minute she told them that she was as powerful as one of them they'd kick her out and send her back to her closet if they didn't get her expelled from Hogwarts all together. But what if they didn't. It would be nice to finally get this off her chest. She'd been holding on to this for so long. She hated this. She hated lying, dodging questions, being a bad friend. She wanted to tell them so badly. Desperately wanted to get some help and graduate. Finally be completely honest with Rumple, Zelena, Hook, Regina and everyone else.

"Whatever it is darling you can tell me," Zelena said in her most sincere and comforting voice.

Belle could see in her eyes that she meant it but was she ready to handle that burden? None of them had to wear this weight or be dragged under because of her. This was her burden and hers alone. She couldn't do that to them. "It's really nothing. I'm fine. Just a little bit under the weather. I don't want to risk sneezing in the middle of a spell," she told her.

Zelena looked into her eyes as if they had the truth written inside them. They didn't. She couldn't push. The way Belle was talking about it Zelena could tell that it wasn't just a small thing that she didn't want to complain about. No, This was something bigger and more complex. "Alright, but if you change your mind I'm always here for you. You know that right?"

"Yes of course," Belle hugged her. Zelena hugged her back and watched as Belle left to go get all of her stuff. After Belle had left, she went into the main area where most everyone was sitting. "She's hiding something. I don't think it'll hurt us but it's definitely hurting her," she told them.

"Mind explaining what the heck you're talking about?" Regina asked.

"Belle left her stuff in her closet and I suggested that she use her magic to get it but she just sorta shrugged it off and said she just wanted to go get herself but she had that worried and guilty look she has when she's keeping something from us like that time she hid the fact that it was Regina that had accidentally sent Emma to the hospital during an unauthorized duel."

"One of you guys need to remind me to bring her with me next time I go to a charity poker event with Robin," Regina said.

"Point being, the poor girl is hiding something and it's really big this time," Zelena said.

"This has happened before," Rumplestiltskin started. "The day I first sat down with her. She was shivering like crazy and I said she should just make herself something warmer but she said she didn't want to accidentally sneeze and have something go wrong."

"That's the excuse she gave me the second time," Zelena said.

"I brushed it off because she had been sneezing but now that I think about it, I've done all of the castings for our potions," Rumple said.

"She's never done any magic in my class either," Zelena added.

"I don't remember her doing magic in my class either," Pan said.

"Wait wait wait one minute," Regina stopped them. "Do you even hear yourselves right now? You're claiming that the girl doesn't have magic for Pete's sake. If she didn't have magic, she would have been kicked out year one for that. This is insane. You don't think that she quite possibly is horrible at casting spells. She hasn't had a casting class in the six years that she's been here. She's starting at the lowest level for a reason."

"Then why hasn't the lass asked one of us for help yet?" Hook asked.

"We're always the ones that turn to her. She has to be the best because otherwise she can't help us and her reason to be here has disappeared as she might think she will as well," Pan told them.

"It's possible," Zelena said. "I wonder what the extent of her casting is."

"I'll find out tonight," Rumple told them. "This'll all blow over soon enough."

"Before we dismiss for the morning we do have one more issue to discuss," Regina said. "How are we going to destroy Hufflepuff and win this before it's even begun? So far, they're winning and we're in third. If it weren't for that mishap in Ravenclaw we'd be in last."

"Like I said we have to take this slowly," Rumple started. "Belle's too good of a person to just flip on Hufflepuff like that. Even though she was forced every single day to live in that dungeon of a closet and suffer like some ..." He hated even the thought of her living in that dungeon. He still couldn't believe that she'd been able to stay hidden like that for years without someone…. "Wait, the first night I saw her, she was talking to a painting on the wall."

"Yeah what's the point?" Regina asked.

"It said, You shouldn't be forced to stay in that gosh awful closet you make yourself stay in," he said.

"We don't need Belle to confess if we can get that painting to testify for us," Zelena answered.

"Wait, What happens then?" Hook asked. "She never trusts again, all of what happened is retold and made very public that not only was she confined to a closet but that she nearly killed a kid. And what happens on the off chance that she doesn't have magic? They'll find out everything and she'll be shipped off. No one can rescue from the world out there. She'll be alone unable to fit in anywhere. We can't condemn the lass to an eternal misery like that."

They all looked at each other. They knew he was right. Belle wasn't just some object they could use to win this thing anymore. She was a real person who they all either liked or respected well enough to be concerned about her.

"It's a good thing I find out what's going on tonight," Rumple said. "Meeting adjourned. We'll reconvene as soon as Belle's out of sight and earshot." They all left to go take care of what they needed to do before they made their way to breakfast. No matter what happened, Rumplestiltskin would get to the bottom of what was going on.

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**Don't forget to tell me what you think in the review section.**


	10. Chapter 10

Rumple was running out of time. He'd had a snafu trying to get into Belle's casting class. Why in the world did they have to have a mandatory meeting for all final year students today? No matter. He and Belle had planned on meeting in the courtyard to do… something, what it was really couldn't have been all that important as long as he made it there on time. He was surprised that he had gotten there first and when she had shown up ten minutes late.

"I'm so sorry," she told him as she ran to where he was. "I had to get the notes for my class I missed and it just kept getting longer and longer. Finally I was able to break away when My book bag broke and I almost lost all my DADA homework and…"

"Belle, Sweetheart, Do you cause this much of a whirlwind everywhere you go?" he laughed.

"I, uh, I'm, uh," she sputtered out. She could have had a better reaction but he said something that threw her head for a huge spin. He'd called her sweetheart.

He hadn't called her Darling or Dearie. No, he'd called her sweetheart. A truly affectionate name. One that you called someone when friend wasn't enough. One that had meaning behind it. A meaning she'd hoped that she might be able to explore but just hadn't wanted to ruin the friendship she'd built with him if he didn't feel the same way about her. She'd liked Rumple for a long time now. Since he'd given her the sweater at lunch all those weeks ago. He was such a mystery. A puzzle that only seemed to let her get the tiniest piece every now and then. Yet somehow, it was a riddle she didn't mind letting be a riddle if he needed to be. Didn't mean she didn't want to solve it though.

"Come on, Let's take a walk around. You're always saying I need to get out more anyways," he told her as he gestured to the open plains that surrounded Hogwarts.

"Um, Yeah, Sure, Let's do it," she said quickly placing her broken book bag in a hidden corner of the courtyard before they started their walk.

Rumplestiltskin wasn't an idiot. He knew he'd let the word sweetheart escape and would regret it later but right now he needed her to be completely open with him. No matter how strangely okay it felt directed at her. Right now they were in the middle of idle chatter about their favorite potions and other small things that felt like nothing and yet something at the same time.

They were close to the spot he'd planned on them turning around at. They had moved from favorites into funny stories.

"So my father rushes at the ogres, full speed, full of pride and confidence and decimates the whole army of cardboard cutouts when he notices that the second one had accidentally snagged his pants and he'd been running around in his underwear for the past eight minutes," she laughed.

"Oh my gosh, That sounds like a nightmare," Rumple laughed along.

"Then he said, They may steal our pants but they will lose their heads for sure," Belle finished in a fit of laughter.

Both of them were laughing so hard that neither of them noticed the root that was in front of Belle until she tripped. "Whoa!"

"I gotcha," he said as he reached out and caught her in his arms. Both of their laughter had died as they stared into the other's eyes. He was now holding her bridal style with her hands interlocked behind his head. Neither one of them had expected to end up like this but here right now, neither one of them could deny those feelings that they'd bottled up or dismissed.

He brought her back to her feet but she was still so close to him. Her hands had moved to his chest and his around her waist. All he wanted to do in that moment was bring her closer but that wasn't right. This wasn't right. So why was it impossible to even tear his eyes from her's.

"Belle what are we doing?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," she told him honestly. "But I wouldn't mind finding out where it went."

"Why? Why would you even where we are right now?" He asked. He was the dark one. He was not to be loved. He was not to care. He was not to do … this. He was an angry, conniving, scheming, lying,

"You make me believe in myself. You've shown me a world of amazement and compassion and care. You cared for me when no one else would and when I didn't deserve to be loved. When I was struggling so hard, you gave me something to look forward to. Something happy, something caring, something more wonderful than I've had in a long time," she told him. "You don't think that you should be loved but you've been loved for a while not just by me but by your house. I just want to heal that final piece inside your heart."

"Belle you've always been worthy of care and love. You take care of everyone with such a kindness and gentleness that makes most everyone wonder how in the world such a precious light and love could be cast away so easily. You were meant to be treasured," he told her.

"Would you treasure me?" she asked him.

"I want to," he told her. "But all could do is break you. I'm too frail and would drop you too many times."

"Rumple the only way you would drop me right now is if you didn't kiss me right here because I am truly dying of anticipation and agony waiting for …"

He kissed her. He was kissing her. He was kissing her with a passion that blew his and Milah's whole relationship out of the water entirely. And yet, it was increased a second later when Belle kissed him back. Every single wall he had been crushed, shoved and smashed down to the pavement so he could give Belle his hand and help her through the rubble and to the remainder of his heart. They continued to kiss until they'd run out of oxygen and ended up in the same position they were before.

He took Belle back to her room and gave her one last kiss before letting her get to bed. When he closed the door he instantly regretted kissing her. Not because it wasn't good, no that was definitely not the problem, but because it wasn't pure. It was tainted with lies and deception and corruption from the very beginning. In that moment though, he'd let himself be happy for once in a long time and it was the most beautiful piece of happiness that he'd ever had. He just couldn't figure out what he was going to do once today had finished and tomorrow had begun.

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**I do have another Rumbelle piece if any of you are interested. It is completed, It's not Hogwarts but it is AU. Either way, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and that it wasn't that cheesy. Anyways you guys are the best.**


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